Castle Grey
by dust and starlight
Summary: The curse of Castle Grey is that no one inside can ever leave. Kanda is sent to handle the flux of Akuma in the area. He becomes trapped with the person he was ordered there to kill. What Kanda doesn't know is there is more to Allen than he ever realized. The least of which is the other person living inside his head. Yullen.
1. Chapter 1

Castle Grey

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Chapter 1

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For a man who hunted monsters on a regular basis, the orders to raid Castle Grey disinterested Kanda. The duffle bag over his shoulder still carried the supplies from his last mission. Coupled with the katana at his hip, he could leave at any time. He hovered at the door and waited for a moment in case that wasn't all Komui wanted from him. The schematics of the train times and travel fares unfolded in his head. If he left soon, Kanda could catch the next one.

"Don't go now." Komui stared aghast at him. "I don't expect you to fight Akuma back to back like this. Wait a day, at least."

That made no sense coming from the man who issued the order as soon as he returned. Kanda huffed at him. "Why should I?" He scowled out at the room in general. "It won't take long. I'll be back by dark." With anyone one else that would have ended the discussion. Kanda sensed he had more to say and made a sound of complaint deep from his throat.

"I've sent people there before." Komui said. His fingers formed a temple on the desk which he perched his chin on. "Good exorcists."

A dent formed in Kanda's forehead. "So?" He half shrugged.

Komui massaged the bridge of his noise, forcing his glasses upward. "No one's ever come back from Castle Grey."

A chill passed through his body, not out of fear, but as if the name meant something to him. Kanda dismissed it and the sudden concern in Komui's eyes. For someone considered a genius, he misinterpreted a lot. Fighting didn't bother Kanda and he knew he wouldn't die. Kanda didn't bother to protest because getting through to him had become Komui and his Lenalee's pet project these last few months and he knew Komui wouldn't believe him.

"So?" Kanda asked again and strode away, not expecting an answer.

The chair fell behind Komui as he sprung up. "Hey, hold on. There's something else."

Kanda waited in the doorway with his hand around the knob. "What?" He asked and Komui had every ounce of his attention and the full force of his stare. The master of the castle piqued his curiosity but Komui's Intel hadn't mentioned anything more detailed than it being powerful. Kanda doubted anything's strength until he compared it against his own.

Komui pressed his lips into a line as if reminding himself to show Kanda his stern side. "There's too much Akuma activity around the castle to go in alone. Take Lavi along—and that's not a suggestion."

He grimaced. The concept or working with anyone frustrated him, but Lavi especially. No one else expected Kanda to be conversational. "He thinks we're friends." Kanda complained and his face scrunched up at the implication of having them. Komui send him a withering look that warned against asking for another partner. And maybe a little insulted on Lavi's behalf.

Kanda crossed his arms. "Whatever." He said and didn't mention the part about Lavi that unsettled him the most. The chattiness he tolerated in degrees, but Lavi inferred his thoughts and could predict his reactions before he did. Kanda clenched his teeth at the idea of being studied. "But one of us won't be coming back."

This time Komui didn't stop him from leaving. Kanda's boots tacked against the tiled floor. After a second he decided it was his uniform and he wasn't stomping. He glared at the sound of other people's voices. The research staff, a bunch of maintenance workers, but he couldn't find a red headed exorcist anywhere. These people Kanda didn't recognize parted to let him pass. It wasn't awe in their gazes when they looked at him or appreciation, but they let him though all the same.

He thought about missing the train and clenched his fist hard enough to leave angry crescents in his palm. How long until the Akuma moved on from Castle Grey and into a town? Kanda's patience with Lavi wasn't great to begin with. He paced around the hallway next to the room Lavi shared with Bookman. Kanda already shoved the door open when no one answered. He found stacks of books but no people inside.

Hours ticked by and Kanda seethed until he contemplated chocking Lavi to death. The last train going anywhere had already left for the night. He counted to forty-six in his head—which was how long it took to stop feeling murderous.

Kanda grudgingly went to the cafeteria because he wouldn't get anything else productive done today. He found him in the back swapping stories with Chaoji. Lavi's face brightened when he noticed Kanda striding toward him. He sprung up and reached to pat Kanda's shoulder, but at the last second, flinched and drew back. Kanda advanced and Lavi kept stepping backward until he hit wall.

"Is something up, Yuu?" Lavi asked and he attempted to smile. "You seem agitated. I mean, more than usual."

From the moment he focused his attention to Kanda, the swordsmen felt himself being analyzed. Bookman claimed to have an infallible memory and maybe Lavi did too. They stared at each other and Kanda searched for his fear, but there was none. As if Lavi didn't think he was capable of beating the shit out of him.

Kanda clenched his teeth and fisted Lavi's shirt to his throat. "The mission. Castle Grey. Where were you?" If Lavi needed more than that to understand, Kanda really might kill him.

"I'm not sure what you're—" Lavi began.

"I will hit you." Kanda informed him. He scowled at the sudden hush though the cafeteria and he wanted to turn around and demand that everyone go back to eating. None of this involved them.

A dent appeared in Lavi's forehead and he stopped trying to unclench Kanda's fists from his shirt. "Killing the monster in the castle?" Lavi's sudden comprehension annoyed Kanda, but he nodded. "Komui debriefed me a few hours ago, but he said you just returned from a mission and not to bother you."

Kanda released Lavi and wished he had something to snap in two. The fact that Komui genuinely cared about him made it even more irritating. He exhaled slowly and noticed Lavi de-wrinkling his long-sleeved shirt out of his peripheral vision. "He could have told me that." For a moment Kanda considered apologizing, but instead he kept speaking because Lavi always pestered him to talk more. Not complaining about Kanda almost beating him up earned Lavi a few sentences. "There's nothing more soul-decaying than free time at the Order. He should understand that."

"Try analyzing great literature with Panda." Lavi grinned at him and Kanda regretted speaking almost instantly. Nothing about what he said or what just happened made smiling socially acceptable. Lavi curved his arm around Kanda's shoulder.

The exorcists eating dinner eyed them harder than before. The urge to flip Lavi over the table became a substantial fantasy until he muttered, "Let's go to the castle right now. Why wait?"

"How?" Kanda narrowed his eyes, but didn't contradict him. Whatever Lavi meant, it reeked of defying the authority over both their heads. A short-lived smirk crossed Kanda's features. He touched the katana at his hip to confirm he could leave at any moment and Lavi nodded. He hitch-hiker-thumbed the back door and tilted his head toward it.

Kanda followed him outside, but he didn't understand until Lavi pulled out his hammer. The flourish he waved it around with implied Lavi was genuinely proud of himself.

"I would rather walk." Kanda deadpanned.

Lavi scoffed. "It's forty-seven miles."

"So?"

Most people flinched when Kanda stared at them that way. Lavi grinned and held out his innocence for him to grasp. If Kanda didn't acknowledge his attempts at conversation, he didn't mind having Lavi around as much. Or so Kanda thought until he caught him staring again. For a second it seemed like Lavi wanted to ask him something, but he bit his lip and glanced sideways.

"Sorry, it's nothing." At least Lavi managed to look sheepish.

He altered the angle of his hammer and deliberated on the position for a second. "Alright, extend." The handle of Lavi's innocence struck against the ground and boosted them a hundred feet in the air. Kanda's knuckles went white with the force he gripped the handle. They both hung, feet dangling. The hammer zoomed up at a faster and faster velocity with only Lavi's shouting to control it.

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They crashed in the forest and brought a quarter of a tree down with them. Kanda grimaced as he felt twigs pressing against his scalp. He rolled off a particularly pointy tree branch and assessed his arms and legs for injuries. Mugen hadn't even jarred from its sheath, but his uniform definitely needed wrung out. Kanda dusted off his overcoat and glanced around. He searched for a landmark or a sign they were in the right place through the dark.

A few feet away, Lavi grumbled too much to be seriously injured. "That went so much better in my head." He confessed. His hammer became a more manageable size and he crawled out of the crater they created.

Lavi stood beside Kanda and managed to look contrite. "Where's the castle?" He wondered.

Kanda had to agree. He strode forward and scowled at the burst of malicious presence he sensed. Kanda and Lavi exchanged glances and then he unsheathed his katana. "Akuma"

Maybe Lavi dropped them close to Castle Grey after all. The feeling of being watched didn't disappear, but nothing ambushed them. Kanda experimented by taking a few steps into the woods with his hand off Mugen. The Akuma still didn't attack. Kanda shrugged and strode forward. He couldn't control his enemies, but he knew he wasn't leaving until he killed the master of Castle Grey.

Lavi grimaced at him, but he followed. The circumstances—it being night, surround by enemies, out of touch with any reinforcements—should have made Lavi less chatty. "Earlier, coming back from that last mission, didn't you have a sprained ankle?" Lavi asked, but Kanda sensed more to the question and halted.

Kanda sent him a sideways glance, but he knew Lavi noticed as much or maybe more than he did on the field. Talking wasn't that much of a distraction for either of them. He pressed his lips into a line. Even Komui hadn't noticed that he got injured during that last mission. Or maybe he had and that's why he tried to keep Kanda from this one. "I heal fast." Kanda said in a tone of voice that warned against any more questions.

Still, he kept talking.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Lavi scratched his cheek and ignored Kanda's glower. "It's only been a few hours." His voice grew speculative. "But that seems to be normal with you." Lavi pressed his index knuckle to his lip. The overwhelming sensation of being a research project overcame Kanda. He didn't even remember coming across Lavi earlier.

A moment past before Kanda understood. He lunged at Lavi and speared him into the nearest tree trunk. "You little shit." He wished an Akuma would come out so he could tear something to pieces. "You fucking liar." Kanda hissed and this time Lavi flinched. He avoided his gaze and that's all Kanda needed to know that he guessed right. "Komui never said anything about me needing rest, did he? That was you trying to get data on me." As if Kanda's restorative abilities were any of his business. Disgust balled in his throat as he thought about how he received that power in the first place.

Kanda glared at him when he didn't answer. Silence usually equaled guilt. "I should have followed my instincts." He pushed away from Lavi. Being that close to a liar repulsed him.

Lavi looked taken aback. "You suspected that I was lying?" He asked and pushed a hand though his hair. The regret in his voice only pissed Kanda off more.

"No, I meant my instincts to hit you." Kanda scowled and glanced down at his fist. He still might.

If Lavi valued his face, he wouldn't have started talking again. The red head bit his lip, "I wasn't experimenting on how long it would take your body to heal." He said and Kanda scoffed at him. If this wasn't a mission he would have strangled him already. "I didn't." Lavi protested and he made eye contact with him again for the first time. "It wasn't about that, I swear."

"So you're just lazy then." Kanda's face contorted into a sneer. He wondered why they were still talking.

A dent appeared between Lavi's eyebrows. He struggled to keep his air of nonchalance. "I avoided you because I thought would be exhausted mentally, if not physically. That part wasn't a lie." He said and managed to look sheepish. "I consider you my friend and I didn't want you to get hurt. But later, when you were about to hit me in the cafeteria" Lavi skewed his lips and Kanda glanced away, "you seemed fully recharged." He shrugged and managed a smile. "So I went with it."

The idea that Kanda needed coddled was so ludicrous he almost laughed. "That's retarded." He folded his arms and tried to comprehend what Lavi meant by friendship. And why he thought that made lying to him acceptable.

"Well, I just recently figured out that fighting makes you happy." Lavi fiddled with his hoop earring and Kanda scoffed. "Excuse me for treating you like a normal person, now I know."

Lavi had insisted they were friends for a long time and it bothered Kanda because he could tell he meant it. Either Lavi had more trouble reading people than he thought or Kanda had somehow led him to believe he wanted friends. "Whatever." Kanda said and huffed. He decided he didn't care anymore. "I'm still thinking about hitting you.

"Cause you know I love it when you take charge and get all domineering, right?" Lavi said and Kanda stared at him until he held his palms out in surrender. "That was a joke. Sorry."

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A stone tower appeared above the tree tops and the atmosphere thickened with the presence of Akuma. Kanda tightened his grip on Mugen. The enemies he sensed probably guarded Castle Grey. That meant a high level Akuma lived inside. The air felt pungent with loathing and Kanda wondered if it was directed at him or if Akuma just exuded hatred in general. In just a few seconds, a dozen of them surrounded Kanda and Lavi. He had never seen so many in one place and Lavi swore under his breath.

"No exorcist's ever come back from here alive." Kanda informed his partner in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Huh." Lavi muttered before the Akuma ambushed them.

About half of them piled on Kanda and he lost track of Lavi almost immediately. He hacked the weak Akuma to pieces and drudged toward the castle while avoiding the persistent bullet shots of the ones pursuing him.

He trusted that Lavi avoided dying just the same and felt a flicker of dissatisfaction at the idea of him getting killed. Kanda couldn't waste time tracking him down though. Killing the master of the castle would disperse the Akuma nesting outside faster anyway. With Kanda's speed, he doubted it would take long to hunt him down.

Castle Grey was suddenly in front of him.

Built with medieval stone blocks, its size made Kanda reconsider his estimate for finding and cutting down the master of the castle. He reached the lion knocker on the door and spun around. The Akuma sprung away from him and lunged backward into the trees. They wouldn't approach the door and left a wide berth between themselves and castle. That didn't keep them from watching him though. Their yellow eyes gleamed in the dark. Kanda tossed his hair from his shoulder, turned, and kicked the door open. He didn't have time to waste.

Past the threshold he caught sight of a marble floor and a grand staircase. He scoffed at whatever drove Akuma to mimic the lifestyles of actual people and strode inside. Kanda checked to make sure nothing followed behind him and then he investigated further. The cobwebbed furniture and scent of mold made him crinkle his noise. He didn't notice the door disappear after he stepped inside or the castle seal itself off from the outside and vanish.

Kanda still expected Lavi to join him so they could each investigate a wing of the castle and cover more ground.

The muffled song of piano music reached his ears and Kanda knit his eyebrows. Komui didn't mention anything about civilians here. The pianist played a rapid-fire flourish of bitter notes. It sounded like an absolutely crazy person trying to infuse their soul into the keys. He had the sudden overwhelming sensation that he didn't belong in this place. That it was less of a castle and more of a tomb.

Kanda felt his throat seal up, but above all else, he wanted to know who was playing the music. It couldn't be an Akuma, but he didn't believe it was a human either. The personified shrill of either genius or madness floated through the halls.

A young girl narrowed her eyes in the shadows. Until that moment Kanda hadn't sensed anyone with him. He pointed his katana at her and her smile grew wider. Kanda found himself searching for fangs in her impossibly broad grin. Her skin reflected a grey color and she wore a frilly skirt that struck out in every direction.

"He's been waiting for you." The girl fussed with her clothing and pouted when he didn't immediately respond. She repositioned her hands on her hips. "Aren't you here to see the master of the castle? It's not like you're leaving here any time soon, but still." She had the look of someone full of secrets she wouldn't tell.

Kanda clenched his teeth. "What the hell are you?" He didn't trust the way she looked at him. Like she could gobble him up at any moment she chose.

"I'm human. We're all humans here." She snickered, but her yellow eyes reassessed him as if she might revoke Kanda from those ranks. "Let's not keep him waiting." She took off in a sprint up the stairs toward the rapid stroke of piano keys and Kanda chased after her. The girl disappeared into the wall. She phased though it and left him in front of the room where the music sounded loudest.

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Author's Notes

1. Allen/Neah will debut in the next chapter. Also, Tyki.

2. This story is Yullen. As for side pairings, Lavi has a complicated relationship with Tyki and Road is her usual flirtatious self, but Kanda and Allen's relationship has center stage.

3. This is my first D. Gray-Man fanfiction and it's scary as hell to post this. Any feedback is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Castle Grey

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Chapter 2

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Kanda pounded against the stone, but the girl had disappeared into the wall. Brute force wasn't getting him though the cement, but she had all the answers to this place that he needed. The piano music slowed from the next room without warning. The softer melody cut through Kanda in a different way than the frantic song. That same curiosity he felt for the pianist returned. He didn't realize he cared for music, but he hadn't really heard any before either. Could an Akuma play an instrument? Kanda approached the door and gripped the handle tight before he pushed it open.

His breath caught in his throat.

The boy at the piano didn't stop playing and Kanda couldn't be sure if he noticed him standing there or not. The boy's stark white hair made him seem frail and so did his size compared to the piano. A name drudged up from the bank of Kanda's memory along with a towering sense of longing that didn't strictly belong to him, but he couldn't place its origins either.

"Road, we're you cussing outside?" The boy laughed and the sound jarred whatever progress Kanda made in identifying his sense of déjà vu.

When he didn't receive an answer, the boy sought the source of the footsteps and froze. Kanda tightened his grip on Mugen and tensed, sharp eyes catching his every movement for a threat. For the longest moment the boy didn't react and then he took a deep breath and didn't let it go. He marveled at Kanda like he had never seen another human being in his life. The fingers that curled against his open mouth were a deep hell ember red.

Kanda narrowed his eyes and too late the boy tried to conceal the Akuma in his arm.

"Are you even real?" He asked. Kanda tried to keep his expression controlled, but what kind of question was that?

The boy glanced away and his expression filled with anguish and something else less defined. "The spell around the castle isn't supposed to let anyone inside." He sounded unsure and also like he was pressing Kanda for answers.

The swordsman gave none except for his flat stare.

"I'm so sorry." The boy with the white hair muttered and halted as if he had a hundred thousand other things to say but he didn't even know where to begin. Quiet tears fell from his metallic gray eyes, but the boy didn't acknowledge them. Something in Kanda disconnected. He had no patience for self-pity and he knew how to handle those emotions.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kanda scoffed at the so called master of the castle. The killer all the Akuma around Castle Grey had collected to be near. If he focused on that, nothing else mattered. Even if his heart felt like it was forcing itself against his ribs. "Why are you even talking to me you fucking freak? I'm here to kill you."

For a moment unabashed hurt crossed the boy's face. It was a self-loathing so human that Kanda hesitated to react.

"Oh, of course" The boy said and managed a self-deprecating smile. "It's my fault you're here." He assessed the tip of Mugen pointed at his face, but his gaze drew back to Kanda's. The boy still looked at Kanda like he was every star in the universe compacted in a jar. "I'm so sorry." He repeated. "I didn't mean to trap you here too."

Kanda didn't ask him what he meant. He didn't trust himself to do anything except what he was meant for—to fight. The boy's stares and unquiet regrets faded with the rest of his thoughts into white noise. Kanda narrowed his eyes and evaluated the boy's stance or lack thereof. Either he really did want Kanda to kill him or he didn't think much of his abilities. Kanda chose to believe that latter and gritted his teeth.

"Then just die already." With a katana extended between them, Kanda felt more like himself. He lunged with enough force to carve the puny pianist in two. The boy's arm transformed and took the bite out of the blow. He winced at the gash Mugen left when the swordsmen pried it free.

"Wait." The boy chocked out the word and held his hand out as if to stop Kanda. His face paled to an almost grey color and he clutched at his side. "I can't control—"

Kanda glared. "Shut up." He wanted to break the thing in from of him for daring to speak to him like a person. The familiarity he felt for him chipped away bit by bit. The boy blocked his flurry of attacks, always on the defensive. His protests fell on deaf ears. And then suddenly the boy's stance changed.

He grabbed Mugen mid-swing in his fist and tore it out of Kanda's hands.

The silver in his eyes morphed into a garish yellow color and he hurled the katana sideways. A completely different person stood in front of Kanda then before. The boy stalked him with his eyes. This was how a monster should look at someone. Not as if his heart was breaking in two, but like humans were the shit on the bottom of his shoe.

"It's too bad." The boy said. "Having someone else around would have been nice."

"I'm not much in the business of making friends." Kanda stared past him at Mugen. He dove for his weapon, but the boy anticipated his lunge. Twice as fast as before, he caught Kanda by his forearm and twisted it behind his back.

Kanda's arm popped three times, the last loudest and with the grinding of bone. He bit back his outcry and heard a crack of laugher at his expense. "I'm the monster you were asking for." He pressed his mouth close to Kanda's ear, yanking his hair out of the way. "Allen shouldn't have let you get so close or I wouldn't have needed to do this. He's weak, but I'm not."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kanda asked and then he realized didn't want to know. Not knowing made his job a lot easier and he already had the orders to eliminate the master of Castle Grey. Everything else was circumstance. "Whatever, I don't care what you call yourself. Just understand that when I break free, I'll kill you. And even if you let me go, I'll still kill you.

The grip on his arm was meant to crush it.

"Neah, leave him alone." The voice compelled rather than requested.

Road stepped out of the wall and pushed Neah back by planting her fingers on his collar bone. She didn't acknowledge Kanda in any other way and he dropped on one knee behind them. Something powerful passed between the two, a recognition maybe that they didn't disagree with each other except under extreme circumstances.

"Why should I?" Neah demanded. "He attacked me." There was accusation in his voice, but not directed at Kanda. It suggested that Neah's suffering was the one being overlooked.

Road straightened the ribbon Neah used instead of a tie, she brushed finite dust from his white sleeves. She looked at him like she had spent all her life protecting him from the world and regretted it. As if she had robbed him of something. "He's everything. He can be the answer." Road touched his face. "You might not like it very much, but I made him come here. For Allen." her fingers caught on his shoulder. "For. . . you. I need you to trust me."

Kanda heard her when the only thing he could feel was the weakness in his arm. He repositioned himself against the wall with Mugen interlocked in the wrong hand. If either of them bothered to look at him, they would have noticed his disgust. Komui ordered him here because no other exorcist could do the job. He had no interest in being anyone's pawn except the Orders. And if Road was lying to save him, it wasn't for any noble reason.

"I'll talk to him for you. He thinks we're Akuma possessing people, but I'll explain things to him." Road kept speaking even when Noah angled his face away and to Kanda's surprise the monster who scattered his arm nodded, took orders from a little girl.

"Do what you want." Neah shook his bangs over his eyes. The look he sent Kanda promised he wouldn't forget what passed between them anytime soon. "I suppose I'll have to take the innocence from him again though." He hesitated and checked with Road. "Less excessively this time."

o ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― o

Kanda's prison was more of a chamber than a cell. The kind of room guests would have stayed in back when the castle had visitors. If Castle Grey ever had visitors. The chamber had a musty smelling bed and a dresser once chestnut under its layers of dust. Kanda paced around the room. He rolled up his sleeve and evaluated the purple finger shaped bruises on his forearm.

They took his innocence.

Kanda's fingers fell in the air at his side where his sword should be. Neah had taken something far more personal than the use of his arm from him. If Road and Neah destroyed Mugen, he swore to spend every second of the rest of his life cutting out everything precious in theirs. His innocence did what nothing else in his life ever had, gave him some kind of purpose. Kanda raked his hand over his scalp and he tried not to think about it.

At this point, Kanda would have killed Neah if he were assigned to or not.

The door had bulky chains wrapped around the handles and a huge lock dragging against the floor. Someone went to great lengths to make sure he couldn't escape. Of course, he would anyway.

A window high on the wall caught Kanda's attention. Squeezing though wouldn't be a problem if he could reach it. Kanda glanced around the chamber and his gaze landed on a ratty chair next to the bed. He dragged the furniture under the window to act as a step ladder.

Kanda kicked out the glass and dropped on the other side. Either hallway was clear for the moment. Everything looked alarmingly alike; each stone passageway identical to the other. It was a maze and Road put Kanda in the middle of it.

A clanging sound caught his attention. Kanda jerked against the wall, but no one came around the corner. After a second he realized it was the rattling of chains. Castle Grey had another prisoner.

Like Lavi?

Kanda tracked the jangling sound down the stairs. He hesitated outside of the entry where the rattling was loudest. The door didn't have a handle, but when he pushed, it opened with a creak.

"Is that you again Road? I thought you weren't speaking to me." Perhaps the most handsome man Kanda had ever seen sat flopped on the floor with heavy iron shackles around his wrists and his neck. The chains led from him to the wall and extended all the way across the floor, pooling at his bare feet. He turned his face to the side and revealed scars from deep scratches across his jaw. It was his one obvious physical imperfection, but he didn't attempt to hide it.

"You're not Road." He mused and sat a little straighter. Yellow eyes evaluated Kanda hungrily like this was the most interesting thing to happen to him in years. The man studied his uniform and then grimaced. "Exorcist." He said.

"Is Road the only other person in this place?" Kanda scowled as he tried to make sense of the difference between his imprisonment and this man's. Road seemed to be the connection between everyone in the castle. For the first time, Kanda reconsidered who his real enemy was. "Who is she to Allen or Neah or whoever?" He pursed his lips. "Is she the real master of the castle?"

The man touched his forehead, though his thick brown bangs and smiled. Kanda got the sudden sense that he and Road shared an extensive history. "She might as well be" His grin broadened, but he didn't explain or seem to relish being on the opposite end of a questioning.

"I suppose there's an interesting story for why you voluntarily entered an inescapable castle, exorcist." He dusted the hair out of his eyes and Kanda wondered again what happened to his face, but didn't particularly care either.

Kanda glanced at the window behind him and the man followed his gaze. His scoff bordered on contemptuous. It implied offence for thinking he was too stupid or unskilled enough to scale down the tower. "Think of them as decoration. There's a barrier on any window or door outside. Don't try to throw yourself out of one of those, it won't even kill you." He informed him.

Kanda made a che sound and the man lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Are you an Akuma too?" Kanda asked. He never trusted anything with luminescent yellow eyes.

The man looked at him like he oozed idiot. "Of course not. Why do you think there's a barrier in the first place?"

Kanda opened his mouth to argue, but then he remembered how none of the Akuma outside dared to follow him even when he turned his back to them. "Damn it." He pinched the bridge of his noise. "Then why the hell am I even here?"

"The Order really screwed you over, huh?" Tyki laughed, but then added after a moment, "Never trust anyone and you'll make fewer mistakes" He said it haltingly like he wanted to share more, but couldn't or wouldn't find the words.

"Warning me about Road and Neah?" Kanda scowled and thought about telling him to keep his advice to himself.

"No." That grin again, like his face had forgotten how to make other expressions, but Tyki didn't strike Kanda as particularly happy either. "Neah is straightforward. He will eventually take over Allen's body. Road's the only thing keeping Allen Walker sane and that's always been chancy." Tyki traced the scars on the side of his face. His expression flattened and regressed into a sneer. Kanda suddenly realized that Tyki was more dangerous than he pretended to be. "It's Allen you should watch out for."

Kanda wasn't sure he understood the difference. The names Neah and Allen represented more than interchangeable ways to refer to the boy with the white hair. Before Kanda could ask, he sensed a presence lurking behind him. Kanda turned around just as Road came through the door. They stood across from each other. She pinched her lips sideways at him. If Kanda escaping from confinement troubled her, Road kept it to herself.

Kanda tensed to fight her, but she ignored him.

"I see you've met the exorcist." She said and gravitated to Tyki's side. "He thinks were Akuma." She snickered.

"I heard." Tyki leaned back and his chains rattled with him. He caught Kanda's gaze and held it for a long moment.

Road wrapped her arms around Tyki's neck and hugged him to her side. She patted down his wavy hair. "We won't be stuck in here much longer." Road touched her head to his, but her gaze landed on Kanda. "I promise."

o ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― o

"Do you want your innocence back?" Road stood behind him with her hands soothing out her skirt. Kanda glared at this little girl with so much power over everyone else in the castle but if she noticed, Road didn't acknowledge his stare. Taking his silence as an answer she smirked. "We're both trapped in here and now you've met all of us. Why not work together?" Road examined her nails. "I hope you're not planning to attack Allen again after last time."

Kanda scoffed and crossed his arms. She wanted to blackmail him. His immediate reaction was to tell her to go screw herself.

She narrowed her eyes at his arm, but didn't remark on his fast healing either. "It's just dinner. Don't look so sour. Frowning all the time will give you wrinkles, you know?"

"Dinner?" Kanda scoffed and tried to pick apart her intentions toward him. She couldn't think he was that stupid. "So you can poison me?"

Road sighed and kicked the feet of her platform heels. "Against my advice, Allen asked to see you. I think he wants to apologize." She made a face at the concept of saying sorry to anyone, and even though he agreed, it made Kanda dislike her more. "Will you come with me to the dining room?"

"Why would I do that?" Kanda asked.

"Did I not ask nicely enough?" Road wondered and she tapped her cheek. "If you don't go to him, he'll come to you. It's been years since Allen's seen another person."

Kanda stopped himself from asking how that was possible. He gritted his teeth because the image of the boy with white hair at the piano had dug deep into his psyche. More a part of Castle Grey, willing or not, than anyone else here. Kanda questioned how he knew that or anything else about Allen Walker. He didn't seem like a stranger. Just someone Kanda didn't know he never met until now.

A glint of satisfaction shadowed Road's yellow eyes. "Coming after all?" She guessed and couldn't suppress her smugness.

The sound of her voice shattered the desperate feeling Kanda had to come face to face with Allen again. He almost refused just to spite her. "What about Mugen?" He asked.

Road didn't answer him. She led Kanda through the intricate passage ways, not getting lost once, despite the numerous twists and turns. Kanda wondered again if she created the maze like hallways on purpose to keep him from discovering something he shouldn't. They didn't' make conversation, but Kanda studied her. For a little girl, Road wasn't very childlike. She stopped in front of a wide door with curved handles and then turned to address him.

Kanda narrowed his eyes, but she made no move to attack him. "There's something else I should mention." A last minute clause, some request Kanda couldn't agree to. He scoffed, but her expression remained stern. "Don't mention Tyki to Neah or Allen. Ever." She gauged his reaction, or utter lack thereof.

Kanda tsked.

The relationships of the people trapped in Castle Grey didn't concern him. "Whatever." He assumed the giant doors led to the dining room and strode past her. Road didn't follow.

o ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― o

At the head of a long table, meant for at least a dozen people, a boy with white hair lounged alone. The chair beside his had been dragged out, but the rest of the table appeared untouched. Road's place, Kanda thought and wondered how these three people ended up together. Four if he counted the other person allegedly living in Allen's head. Maybe there were many people in a way not strictly supernaturally related.

The longer Kanda watched Allen, the less he understood why he felt drawn to see him again. In a context other than fighting. "There's nothing special about you." Kanda realized and felt relief in proportion to his disappointment.

Allen startled and stood up. He hovered as if unsure whether he should approach Kanda or not. Even from afar, steel colored eyes swallowed Kanda's whole. The swordsmen took a step backwards.

"Is it broken?" Allen asked and a second past before Kanda realized he meant his arm.

The distrust Kanda felt for all of them returned in double. The person in front of him stole Mugen and engineered Castle Grey's curse. He narrowed his eyes. "No thanks to you." He glared. Kanda flexed his fingers; his arm had all but healed.

Allen breathed like he only just remembered how. "That's good. I'm glad you're okay."

He peered into Kanda's eyes for long intervals, still fascinated, but he tried to hide it by occasionally glancing down at his soup. Kanda had no patience for that kind of thing and fought the urge to mock him. "I'm Allen by the way. I guess we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other." He offered to shake Kanda's hand.

"I know who you are." Kanda turned himself away. "And I don't really care."

o ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― o

1. I edited that first part soooo much. Too much? I don't know. Any feedback is appreciated.

2. Next chapter Kanda finds out just how twisted Allen, Road, and Tyki's relationship is.

3. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. May an endless eternal amount of good karma come your way.


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